View full sizeNoel Hand and Tami Hand have been charged with theft of property.

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Authorities said Thursday that the Gulf Shores assistant public works director and his wife admitted to embezzling $161,000 from a condominium association.

But city officials denied that Noel Hand, who has worked for Gulf Shores since December 2007, confessed to the crime.

“He should be and is, in my opinion, innocent until proven guilty,” said Mayor Robert Craft.

Investigators were contacted by a resident of Wolf Bay Condominiums, where Hand, 36, and his wife, Tami Tate Hand, 31, “handled day-to-day operations” for the condo association, according to Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery. The couple apparently had access to the association’s account and wrote checks to their personal accounts, Lowery said.

Investigators subpoenaed bank records and performed a “forensic analysis,” finding “discrepancies” and evidence of embezzlement, Lowery said. The money had been stolen over a period of 21 months, Lowery added.

The 2 were arrested Tuesday on theft of property charges and taken to the Sheriff’s Office in Robertsdale, where Lowery said they confessed.

After the arrests, City Administrator Steve Garman spoke with Noel Hand, who denied admitting to the charges. Hand earns $64,058 a year in his role with the city, Garman said. Neither Hand nor his wife could be reached for comment.

The charges were unrelated to Hand’s position with the city, and he will continue in his duties “while the charges are addressed and resolved,” city officials said in a news release this week.

No court date has been set for Noel Hand or Tami Hand, according to he Baldwin County Circuit Clerk’s office.

“Unless we learn something different than what we know so far, we will continue to follow the process,” Craft said, calling Hand an “excellent addition to the city” and a “really good employee.”

The mayor said he did not intend to speak with Hand about the charges, adding, “He has never done anything here that has given us any reason not to trust him.”